PVC Plastics Testing

Polyhedron Laboratories offers product and materials testing for PVC products. Our lab can test to ASTM standards, and provide a full suite of PVC testing services.

PVC Information

PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, is the third most widely used plastic in the world after polyethylene and polypropylene. By 2016, production of PVC is expected to exceed 40 million tons annually. It is widely used in construction and plumbing applications due to its rigidity, durability and chemical and biological resistance. In addition, it is cheaper to manufacture than some other thermoplastics due to the fact that chlorine is a major component and it uses much less petroleum in manufacture than the other plastics.

The addition of plasticizers, such as phthalates, to polyvinyl chloride results in a softer, more flexible product. In this form, PVC is used in the clothing and upholstery industries for products with a leather-like texture, wire and cable insulation and signs.

PVC is a thermoplastic vinyl polymer consisting of repeating ethenyls that have one of their hydrogens replaced with a chloride.

The following table shows some common properties of PVC, but the values can vary depending on the formulation.